Optical cables are used for high-speed communication and data transmission over short distances, such as for a local area network within a metropolitan area, as well as long distances, such as for a long haul optical network. Short and long distance optical networks occasionally suffer interruptions in network traffic due to faults in one or more optical cables due to a variety of reasons. For example, optical cables may be cut by accident (e.g., due to construction) or as part of a planned maintenance event, such as rerouting cables around a construction site; aged optical cables may degrade resulting in reduced transmissivity of the optical fiber material, causing the optical signal to prematurely weaken as it travels through the fiber and/or cable; and kinks in an optical cable can diminish or interrupt optical signals.
Traditionally, when a fault is detected, the signal on the working fiber, which may include tens or hundreds of channels that carry network traffic, may be rerouted to an alternate path, such as a protection path, which may enable the optical network to continue to operate while minimizing downtime or disruption of network client services. Similarly, during maintenance actions, a protection path may also be utilized to reroute optical signals to ensure that network traffic continues to flow to its intended destination while minimizing network down time or interruption.
However, while protection paths may, in some circumstances, reduce network downtime or disruption, utilizing a protection path while performing maintenance operations may nonetheless introduce new operational risks and/or undesirable affects on network operations, client services and operational costs. For example, utilizing a protection path, particularly during planned maintenance operations, may introduce constraints into the optical network that may affect performance, such as loss of optical path diversity (e.g., loss of link diversity and/or node diversity) due to the restriction in the number of available signal paths, which may also reduce available bandwidth for network traffic. Utilization of protection paths may also increase the likelihood of dual events (e.g., dual faults) due to the loss or reduction in available or redundant optical paths, which may increase the risk of network operations and/or reduced optical network reliability or performance. Additionally, normal fiber maintenance using protection paths may be both costly and disruptive to network operations due to the need to schedule and coordinate maintenance events well in advance to minimize impact on network services (e.g., due to shut downs on portions of the optical network); to inform and coordinate potential disruption of network services to clients; and to synchronize network maintenance crew schedules with those of local authorities and/or crews associated with sites (e.g., construction sites, locations of natural disasters, etc.) where maintenance may be performed.